Means of Defence
by NikolaiCoen
Summary: One Nightmare Night Pinkie loses track of her friends to find that she can't find them anywhere in Equestria, along with her zebra friend MonoChrome they go looking hoping that it's nothing serious... but it always is. After calling in a friend from Canterlot they learn the story of what happened that Nightmare Night and why Equestria left without it's greatest means of defense.


My Little Fanfic

_Chapter 1 – Just a normal Nightmare Night_

_MonoChrome – I'm sure it's nothing_

I stared into the dark night above me, from the hill I was perched on, pondering the exact meaning of this holiday they call Nightmare Night. I could hear the screams of children below me, as they went from house to house to be greeted by scary faces. How could this be called fun? Still, it happened every year so there must be some sense to it, this hill was just outside the forest my cousin called home and the sounds of the critters that inhabited it were still audible. My cousin was one of the few friends and family members I have in Equestria, I'd just been to see her to deliver some dragon eggs that I managed to come across during my time in Saddle Arabia. Celestia knows what the heck she needs them for, perhaps some sort of odd brew or a form of enchanting potion? Or perhaps she is just in need of some form of companionship. Whatever it is I didn't ask, I think I'd rather not know. After spending some time with her at her hut deep in the Everfree forest and meeting back up with my fillyfriend at Sugarcube Corner to give her some souvenirs and spend some quality time with her I'd made my way up here to get away from the inevitable hustle and bustle that would gather when the night fell.

"Hey Mono! Have you seen Twi around?" I turned around to see that very same fillyfriend, Pinkie Pie, appear as if out of nowhere although as of late I'd become accustomed to her doing that.

"Nope, come to think of it, I haven't seen Rainbow either, or Applejack." I said with a slight frown, I wasn't worried of course, they were probably just deep in costume for the celebration, it was Nightmare Night after all.

"That's just the thing! I haven't seen Rarity or Fluttershy either. In fact, I haven't seen any of my girls all day!" She replied looking a bit worried; her talking speed was increasing by the Sybille. I decided put an arm around her to comfort her.

"I'm sure they're just preparing for the big speech later, nothing to worry about. I promise." I soothed looking at her reassuringly. "It'll all be fine." Even as I said it though, I couldn't help but think how odd it was for Pinkie not to have seen any of her friends for this length of time.

"You're probably right, I bet nothing has happened." She sighed. "At least I hope nothing has happened. What if something has happened to them? I don't think I could live with that not knowing where they are!" She seemed genuinely scared now.

"Tell you what, let's go look for them now." I held her hoof with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure we'll find them quickly." This seemed to help as a familiar grin spread across her face as we headed back into town together.

I was starting to worry about where they'd gotten to, but I couldn't let Pinkie know this, it would just make her even more nervous than she already is. We'd been searching for over an hour, weaving our way through the crowds and groups of giddy children dressed up for the occasion. Despite the nature of our search I couldn't help but feel brightened up by the general air of excitement and ponder all the photo opportunities that I was missing out on, but it was a holiday and I'd promised myself to leave my work for today. The mood seemed lost on my usually chirpy friend however, she got this way when her friends were concerned, I could sympathise though, if she went missing I would probably feel the same way.

"Where are they? I thought you said we would find them!" She managed to blurt out between hastily scanning an apple bobbing booth for any of her friends.

"And we will." I reassured, although by now I was starting to doubt myself, Nightmare Night's didn't have a reputation of going well after all… My train of thought was broken however as Pinkie spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't bear the thought of my friends being in trouble somewhere, I mean what if they have been eaten by some form of evil demon that can only be stopped by using- Hmmm…." She momentarily stopped mid-search to ponder what this mythical demon's weakness could be.

"Oatmeal?" I offered, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oatmeal? Are you crazy?" She retorted with a mock serious demeanour.

"Just trying to pass the time, besides there's no such thing as demons, they're just an old ponies' tale." I guessed making jokes to mask my worry was the way to go, after all, element of laughter and all. I did have a strange sense something big was going to happen though and my time as a photographer had taught me to trust that feeling, that's how I always managed to get the best pictures. I'd accrued photos of Discord, Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis even Sombra himself from following this instinct, or to look at it from another angle, I always ended up somewhere around the centre of chaos, but if the elements themselves actually _had_ disappeared what would follow? Every time something bad happened it was always them who saved the world right in the nick of time, is some sort of villainous creature to rival that of King Sombra going to appear before us and assume control now that our biggest defence is gone? Are changeling hordes going to fly over and take replace us one by one by kidnapping us then- wait… kidnapping ponies? The elements would be the logical place to start after all… and replacing one-by-one, I turned to look at Pinkie for a moment before shaking my head to clear the thoughts. That's ridiculous! My imagination was being overactive again. It's just a normal Nightmare Night, nothing more. As normal as an event based off a Princess and designed to scare foals can be anyway.

But what if I'm wrong? I thought as my mind returned to those dark thoughts once again, what if something bad _is _happening? I couldn't go to the Princess, not only would I have no idea on how to get word to her but I would look like a fool if I was wrong… perhaps it's time to call on an old friend of mine, he's an expert on, well everything after all.

_Starcalm - Touché_

I had never been a pony for quick decisions, I'd always preferred to weigh out the options, think things through logically and cool-headed then act appropriately. Heck, why else would I have a name like Starcalm? That and my abundant love of the night sky. This very same logical thought process had served me well all my life; it'd gotten me out of the slums of Canterlot where I was lucky enough to be born, arrived me at my job as Royal Advisor to Princess Celestia herself, helped me make something of my life… prove all those wrong who had ignored my very existence as I begged for spare bits as a child. Then why, I had to ask myself, was I now abandoning my beloved logical way of life on a Pegasus drawn carriage to Ponyville, on Nightmare Night of all times? I knew the answer of course, as Royal Advisor it was my_ job _to know everything. It was all because of a socially inept zebra called MonoChrome that I hadn't seen in over a year and his wacky fillyfriend who I'd never even met, according to the letter he sent me something terrible had happened and they needed me to help them immediately, whatever it was it was apparently so world-shakingly terrible that it required me to come down to Ponyville in person just so they could utter the very words. It'd better be worth it, I was missing an Octavia concert I'd already bought tickets to for this. Regardless, as the Pegasi pulled me along and I continued to brood I started to think back to when I'd met this confound zebra a year ago:

It was right after Princess Luna's return from the Moon, or _Nightmare Moon_ as she was called, I was exhausted, hell the whole of Canterlot Castle was. An annual celebration turned tragedy, a Princess returning and a second celebration afterwards all in one day had had its toll on the Royal Council. Which is why I was less than pleased when I was told to meet with a zebra in Canterlot town regarding some photos he'd managed to acquire of the incident, the Princess told me they could be invaluable to the historical records the castle kept of every major event in Equestria and I should meet him immediately to see if he would be willing to part with them. I wasn't ecstatic about the idea, but the Princess was right, and I wasn't about to disobey her so I began on the path that would take me to the town square in which he'd agreed to meet me. It wasn't a long walk but a very boring one; I'd walked down here a thousand times, observed every sign and store front, every detail of every building and none particularly interesting. It almost made me look forward to getting there and meeting this mysterious zebra, what the hell was a zebra doing in Canterlot anyway? When I finally arrived I spotted him right away, a zebra in a unicorn settlement stuck out like a sore hoof. He seemed to be very intent on his surroundings, as if he was trying to commit it all to memory, makes sense for a photographer I suppose. Apparently I stood out as much to him as he did to me as his eyes locked onto me the second he saw me, I approached and put on a friendly smile.

"Starcalm I presume?" He asked with an outstretched hoof and a slight smile

"What gave it away?" I returned shaking his hoof, taking note of his slight Amareican accent.

"The star" He said, his slight smile growing to a grin. I looked down slightly irritated by how easily I'd walked into that one but smiled nonetheless. After all my cutie mark _was_ a white star behind a leather bound book.

"Touché, that would make you MonoChrome then if I'm not mistaken" I replied observing his own mark of a black and white film reel as we began to walk through the market together "I hear you have some photos of the Nightmare Moon event you may be willing to part with."

"That I do, taken by yours truly and to make it easy I ask only one thing in return" He said matter-of-factly.

"You make it sound like a deal with the devil" I joked with smirk. He paused before saying in a deep tone:

"_Your soul_" I turned to him and stared for a moment before we both broke out into laughter, this zebra was definitely a welcome change of pace from the uptight unicorns that populated the majority of Canterlot, mind you, I was a Canterlot born unicorn myself so could hardly criticize. After we'd both finished laughing at our small joke he turned the conversation back to the matter at hoof.

"I ask for a job, I'm aware that Canterlot Castle does not have an official photographer for their documentations, if you find mine up to par, I would like to fill that position" I had to admit I had seen this coming and had a reply ready.

"The reason Canterlot Castle does not have an official photographer for events such as these is that nopony can be sure when an event like the Summer Sun Celebration's will happen or where it will happen and guessing causes more trouble than it's worth. Imagine if we had predicted Princess Luna's return as Miss Sparkle did and posted photographers and reporters everywhere for the occasion, Ponyville would have gone into a state of panic." He seemed to weigh over my words for a few moments before replying cautiously. We spoke for a few minutes in this fashion as we walked to nowhere in particular, I looked over some of the photos he had, as well as some others from his portfolio. Some of them were just downright odd, one for example was a jar of dirt on a dusty windowsill we discussed this at some length before coming to the conclusion that it was 'subjective'. Eventually we reached an agreement that suited us both, he would not be employed as an official for Canterlot Castle however if ever he managed to acquire photos of events of interest he would be guaranteed a viewing by a member of the documentary department and suitable payment would be given. We walked back together and shared a few more jokes until finally saying our farewells and going our separate ways. I hadn't actually seen him since that day but had heard news of him through the documentary department, apparently he had went exploring around the world but had still managed to take pictures of the Discord, Chrysalis and Sombra incidents, good ones too. I was almost looking forward to seeing him again now, almost. But I couldn't help thinking, he always seemed to be at the side-lines whenever something bad happened in Equestria and now he was saying something terrible was happening. This is all Equestria needs right now.


End file.
